No More Running
by KousukeAsazuki
Summary: She always ran from her problems, and he was no excpetion. At least, that's what she thought. KousukeRyoko, Kousuke?, implied AyumuEyes. Oneshot, R&R!


This was actually a suggestion made by Polaris18. I don't know if she was serious or not, but it seemed interesting enough to me, so I thought I'd give it a shot. And I don't think anyone else has done this pairing, so let me know what you think of it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope, I got nothin'. (note the poor grammar is used for a humorous effect only. If I ever really use the phrase 'I got nothin'' seriously, shoot me.)

Rating: Slightly mild with a hint of barbecue sauce (that means K+).

Pairings: Well, you'll just have to wait to find out, won't you? Also, RyokoKousuke and implied AyumuEyes.

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"Where's that idiot at?" Ryoko asked no one in particular, looking around for the said person.

"You just sent him off to buy you lunch a minute ago, there's no way he could be back by now." Ayumu pointed out. The five of them, being the three high school attending Blade Children, Ayumu, and Hiyono, were on the roof enjoying their lunches. Well, more like Hiyono was enjoying Ayumu's lunch, said boy was attempting to take a nap, Rio was munching on a melon Eyes had given her earlier that morning, and Ryoko was waiting (very impatiently) for Kousuke to return with her bread.

After another 10 minutes, Ryoko stood up from her seat on the roof, "Where are you going?" Rio asked, finishing the last of her melon.

"Where do you think? I'm going to make sure Kousuke didn't get lost again." Ryoko replied. During the first week at school, Kousuke had gotten lost several times; once even ending up in the girl's bathroom (though, it was never determined whether that was on purpose or not). Seeing that no one had any objections, the taller girl yanked the door open and headed down towards the cafeteria.

After she was gone, Ayumu chuckled, shaking his head. Hiyono paused from inhaling his lunch to stare at him, "What's so funny?" she wondered.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, wondering how the two girls could have missed it.

"What?" Rio asked, wondering as well what Ayumu knew that she didn't.

"Those two hooked up." he informed the girls, "Why else would Kousuke be so late getting back, and why would Ryoko go to the trouble of looking for them when we only have 5 minutes left for lunch?"

Hiyono chewed thoughtfully, "Maybe there was a long line, and Kousuke got stuck in it." she suggested, "And maybe Ryoko's just really hungry."

"Their attraction is obvious, why would it be so ridiculous for them to hook up?" Ayumu asked, confident he was right.

Hiyono frowned, "I would have known about it if they had." she pointed out.

Ayumu hesitated, he had to give her that. If anyone of any importance did anything, Hiyono would know about it. The lead track star getting a boyfriend, not to mention two of her friends getting together, would be something Hiyono would definitely know about, _"So why didn't Kousuke come back?"_ Ayumu wondered.

That was the question Ryoko was trying to currently answer. However, when she reached the lunch room, it was obvious Kousuke wasn't in there; he was pretty hard to miss. Sighing in both hunger and frustration, Ryoko turned to head back up to the roof, maybe she missed him heading down. That's when she saw it, right there in front of her, slapping her in the face. It was as rude an awakening as she had ever seen, and for a moment, her brain ceased to function. There he was, Kousuke, in all his idiotic glory...kissing a girl. And who might that girl be? Ryoko knew her all too well. Not personally so much, but all the Blade Children knew each other on some level, and her and Sayoko were no excpetion.

As sure as the sun will set this evening, Kousuke was there with Sayoko in his arms. Ryoko swallowed, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. It wasn't like her and Kousuke were a couple, but it was very obvious that they would have gone together perfectly. She knew everyone suspected them being together, but now this. This...horrible turn of events made her want to go back to being the naive girl she once was, when she didn't even know Kousuke liked her; when she thought they would always just be best friends and nothing more. That couldn't happen, though, and so Ryoko did the only thing she knew how to do: she ran. She ran as far and as fast as she could, avoiding the questioning glances from her classmates.

Finally, she ended up at her home away from home, a.k.a. the school's track. She surveyed it, remembering all the times that Kousuke would wait after school for her, handing her a bottle of water as she passed. She remembered the time they almost kissed. She, of course, had gotten nervous and ran once more. She was always running, but it was only because that was all she knew. Whenever she had a problem, she ran to free her mind from it. Running was her release as surely as Eyes' playing was his. All the running in the world couldn't chase that image out of her head, though, but still she ran.

Back in the cafeteria, Kousuke finally broke his and Sayoko's kiss. The timid girl looked up at him, a slight blush on her face. The rosy color made Kousuke laugh at how much it contradicted her otherwise pale complexion, "Why are you blushing? It's not like this is the first time we've ever kissed in public before." he reminded her.

"I just...it feels like everyone is looking at us." she admitted, glancing around.

Kousuke mimicked the gesture before returning his gaze to Sayoko, "You're just being paranoid, no one's looking." he assured her. At her uncertain look, his face softened, and he placed a couple of fingers under her chin, tilting her face towards his, "Even if they are looking, it's only because they're jealous."

The blush deepend just the slightest bit, and Sayoko smiled up at him, "If you're sure."

Kousuke returned the smile, "I'm sure." he repeated, then leaned down for another kiss, pressing his lips gently against hers. Sayoko was in no way agressive, and that was reflected in her affection. She had protested the first time Kousuke tried to slip his tongue in between her lips, but gradually grew used to the invasion. She was still very conservative when it came to showing affection, though, and it was aggrivating to Kousuke, who was used to fast girls. Still, that little something that attracted him to Sayoko kept him from pushing her.

It hadn't been too long ago that he had started noticing Sayoko as more than just a classmate and fellow Blade Child. After countless rejections from Ryoko, Kousuke finally had started to give up on ever being with her. He, of course, was devestated by the realization that they wouldn't end up together, always playing it out in his head that she would eventually come to her senses and say 'yes' one of those times. That had never happened, though, and that's when Sayoko appeared.

At first it was just to ask Kousuke to assist her with tutoring. She had been absent from school for a while due Hunter-related reasons, that only the other Blade Children were familiar with, and she had fallen behind in some of her classes. Though Kousuke might have not seemed like the obvious choice at first, Sayoko learned that he was quite intelligent despite his lazy and procrastinating demeanor. At first, it had all gone according to plan; Kousuke would go to Sayoko's house after school a few days out of the week and help her catch up with all her missed work. A few accidental brushes here and there went unnoticed by both parties, but that soon changed as Kousuke lost hope in Ryoko's intentions of beating him up, realizing that maybe he was just a good punching bag.

Kousuke started to request going over to Sayoko's more often, and for more reasons than to just help her study. The touches here and there were no longer accidental, and also no longer unnoticed. Sayoko eventually confronted him about it, saying that it made her feel uncomfortable. Kousuke then explained everything that had been happening with him and Ryoko, and Sayoko's heart went out to him, if only just her pity. It wasn't a real relationship, Kousuke in it because of his desperation and Sayoko because of her kind-hearted intentions, and they certainly weren't in love. It was an unspoken agreement between the two that it would never escalate into anything serious, and it would probably end over the summer being passed off as just a fling.

Even knowing all this, it was nice to have someone that Sayoko could call hers, and she knew eventually Kousuke would want to end the relationship once he got back on his feet. There wasn't much attraction to Kousuke on her part, but a sort of admiration. He was everything that she wasn't; he was loud, obnoxious, rude, agressive, impulsive, but most of all (perhaps best of all) he was confident in himself. She knew that he was a killer, and that frightened her just the tiniest bit, but she also knew he would never hurt another Blade Child. Despite his flaws, Kousuke had something that she never would, if only for her timid and soft-spoken nature; he had the freedom to do and say what he wanted, not caring who it offended or what the consequences were. Most would say that this kind of behavior was idiotic and foolish, but Sayoko saw it as an admirable trait in the redhead. Perhaps that was what attracted her to him, and made her say 'yes' instead of 'no'. Whatever it was, she would stay with him until he no longer wanted or needed her.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and stirring Sayoko from her thoughts. She smiled up at Kousuke, "I'll see you after school?" she asked.

Kousuke nodded quickly, "Yeah, I'll stop by your place later." he told her, then ran off. He had been so immersed in thought that he had completely forgotten to bring Ryoko her bread, _"I hope she's not too mad."_ he thought, running quickly up the stairs that led to the roof.

Bursting through the doors, he surveyed the occupants of the roof. Only Ayumu was left, reading a cooking magazine. Kousuke approached him, "Where is everyone?" he asked, looking around once more to make sure he hadn't missed them.

Ayumu glanced up at Kousuke, "Hiyono and Rio went back to class, and Ryoko went looking for you about five minutes ago." he informed the redhead.

"She did?" Kousuke asked, wondering why Ryoko would come looking for him, "Did she say why?"

"I'm guessing it was because of that." Ayumu pointed to the bread in his hand, reminding him that he had yet to give it to her.

Kousuke sighed, "Right." he muttered, a little dejectedly,_ "Why else would she come looking for me?"_ He turned his attention back to Ayumu once more, "So, you have no idea where she is?" Ayumu shook his head, and Kousuke turned to head back downstairs, "I'll see you later, Little Narumi." Kousuke called.

Ayumu smirked at the nickname. Even after all this time, Kousuke still rarely called him Ayumu, _"Some people just never change."_ he thought, then went back to planning his dinner for Eyes and Madoka.

Kousuke's mind raced over the possibilities of where Ryoko could be, but those were all eliminated as he heard two kids passing by him talking, "Did you see that girl running out of here during lunch?" the boy asked the girl next to him.

She shook her head, "No, who was it?"

"You know that track star, I think her name is Ryoto or something like that."

"Oh, you mean Ryoko? Yeah,she's in my class."

"Well, I think she caught her boyfriend cheating on her."

"She has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, that loud redeaded guy...umm, what's his name?"

The girl laughed, "You're horrible with names. Oh, you mean Kousuke?"

"Yeah, that's it. She saw him kissing some other girl."

Kousuke froze at hearing this, _"Ryoko saw Sayoko and I together?"_ he thought. What he found even more interesting was that she was upset by the news. Hope once again sparking inside him of _why_ she was upset, Kousuke set out for the track. If he knew Ryoko, which he did (very well, in fact), then there was no where else she would be.

Confirming his suspicions, Kousuke arrived on the track to see Ryoko coming around it, finishing up yet another lap. From the looks of it, she had been running non-stop and was getting quite worn out. He wondered why she had run so much without taking a break, and wondered yet again why she was so upset over seeing Sayoko and him together. He could always hope the reason was what he thought it was, but didn't want to allow himself too much hope. After all, he was still a Blade Child, and whenever something good happened to him, something bad was always there to rip it away.

Ryoko looked up to see him there, grinning at her, and holding up a much neede bottle of water. She didn't know whether to be upset with him or not. It wasn't like they had ever made their relationship official, but she had always thought that it was an unspoken agreement between them that if they ever hooked up with anyone, it would be each other. This, of course, sent irrational fears through her head of the attraction being completely one-sided, but shook it off; Kousuke wouldn't hang around her and take as much abuse as he did if he didn't feel _something_ for her. Finally appraoching him, she slowed down to a walk and grabbed the water out of his hand. Not saying a word, she walked right past him and took a seat on the bleachers, opening up the bottle and chugging nearly half of it down; she hadn't realized how thirsty she was. Sighing in relief, she saw Kousuke sit down next to her, and looked away.

Seeing that Ryoko wasn't going to speak, Kousuke started the conversation, "I heard that you saw Sayoko and I together." he commented, getting straight to the point.

Ryoko silently cursed him for his bluntness, though that _was_ one of his more attractive traits, always speaking what was on his mind, "I didn't know you two even knew each other." she stated. Not really a confession of jealousy, but there was a tone about the way she said it, telling Kousuke that she meant more than she said.

"It's only been for a short while." he told her, but didn't get into any details. After a moment of silence, he motioned to the track, "Why did you come out here? The bell rang for lunsh to end, you know."

Ryoko took another drink of water, "I know, I just..." she trailed off, wondering how to end that sentence, _"I just saw you with another girl and couldn't take it, so I came out here to do what I always do when I have a problem."_ she thought. That was definitely why she had ended up outside when class was very obviously inside, but Kousuke didn't need to know that.

"You just what?" Kousuke asked, pressing for her to continue. If he could only make sure that she felt the same way...

"I just felt like running." she whispered. An uncomfortable silence fell over them until Kousuke scooted over closer to her. She shifted, a little nervously, and glanced to him, "What are you doing?"

"You...you shouldn't run from your problems." he informed her, "They'll always catch up to you eventually."

"What do I do when they catch up to me?" she wondered, "I can't fight them all."

Kousuke grinned, and extended a hand to turn her face towards his, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." he said, then quickly closed the gap between them. Pressing their lips together, he waited to see how she would react.

Unforunately, Ryoko had no intentions of slowing down or stopping at all; she was dead set on running. Pushing Kousuke away, she turned her head, blushing furiously, "What was that for?" she asked, wishing she hadn't finished her water off so quickly. The sweet taste that Kousuke left in her mouth was tempting and she wanted more, but..."You're with Sayoko." she reminded them both.

Kousuke let out a relieved sigh, glad that that seemed to be the only reason why she pushed him away. It was a flimsy excuse in itself, but he went along with it, "I don't love Sayoko." he informed her.

Ryoko nibbled on her bottom lip, then hesitantly glanced up at her potential boyfriend, "And...you love me?" she asked, almost terrified of his answer. All the clues pointed to yes, but Kousuke had always been very unpredictable at times.

Kousuke smiled, and leaned in again, much slower this time. Capturing her lips in his once again, he mumbled what could have been interpreted as a 'yes'. Deciding that was all the proof she needed, Ryoko smiled into his lips, loving the sensation of chills running down her spine that it caused. Pulling away, Kousuke smiled, "No more running, okay?" he asked, speaking metaphorically only.

Ryoko smiled and leaned in to place another, hesitant kiss on his lips, "Okay."

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So, what did you think? It's not my first fic with this pairing, but the first one that centered around them. Hope I did okay, and what did you think of Kousuke and Sayoko? Like I said, that idea came from Polaris18, so the credit for that goes to her. Hope you liked it!


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